Thread: Oklahoma: Lodging workers leaving state

Lodging workers leaving state
John A. Williams

EDMOND — As many as 20,000 hotel-motel workers may have left their jobs and Oklahoma in the wake of the state’s new immigration reform bill.

The numbers are not official, but Cathy Williams-White, director of the Edmond Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the loss has happened within the past month. House Bill 1804, which went into effect on Nov. 1, bars illegal immigrants from getting jobs and state benefits and makes it a felony to harbor or transport illegal immigrants.

“When you look at the major employers of Edmond, if you take out UCO and you take out the public schools, then your major employers are builders, hotel and restaurant business and all of those have a large Hispanic population,â€

These illegal's money doesn't turn over - it goes to Mexico. It is a drain.

Just wonder who was making the beds before the illegals.

I don't believe the figures - but I hope some are leaving.

This puts the competitors on a level playing field. They all need to pay for LEGAL workers. The companies that use illegals have an unfair advantage over good companies.

Perhaps hotel services are something that could be contracted out; maybe some enterprising college students would figure out a way to make this service more efficient, beter organized, more productive. I agree this job is one of the tougher ones to improve upon but it could be done.

A contract type service - now that is a great idea.

Just be sure the contractors employ legal residents.

As a resident of Edmond I would bet that 90% of the people employed by these hotel/motels don't live in Edmond

Hotel and motel cleaning jobs are perfect for teenagers and moms with school age children. For moms the hours jive perfectly with school hours. Mom can start the job after she takes the kids to school and she is done with her job before the kids are out of school. Another great benefit of this job is you do get some exercise and you also get to use the pool for free.

I've been traveling about 3/4 of the time all over the US. If I am convinced that there are no illegals on the housekeeping payroll, I leave a tip. If I'm in doubt, no tip.

Good example, I stayed over a week in SAV and I left an appropriate tip 'cause I had no doubt their housekeeping staff was 100% US citizens.

At the Marriott near the convention center in LAS, their housekeeping staff is 100% hispanic. Nothing wrong with that, except I suspect that they are 100% illegals. They communicate by Motorola radios throughout the hotel, only in Spanish.

Over the last several years, I've left very few tips for housekeeping 'cause I don't tip illegals. In some places theres a mixture of US citizens and illegals on the housekeeping staff; and I'm sorry for US citizens not getting a tip, but I have zero tolerance for illegals and I won't take a chance that any tip money would wind up in the hands of illegals.

That's my attitude - illegals (and especially their employers) need to burn in hell. Ditto for H-1B owners/handlers.

Coto

Originally Posted by Mayday

Hotel and motel cleaning jobs are perfect for teenagers and moms with school age children. For moms the hours jive perfectly with school hours. Mom can start the job after she takes the kids to school and she is done with her job before the kids are out of school. Another great benefit of this job is you do get some exercise and you also get to use the pool for free.

And I would think that someone who contracts would have much greater motivation to get in and get it done; employees, OTOH, are always fighting to do less, and easily cost a company twice what they are paid in wages.

Originally Posted by Captainron

Originally Posted by Mayday

Hotel and motel cleaning jobs are perfect for teenagers and moms with school age children. For moms the hours jive perfectly with school hours. Mom can start the job after she takes the kids to school and she is done with her job before the kids are out of school. Another great benefit of this job is you do get some exercise and you also get to use the pool for free.

And I would think that someone who contracts would have much greater motivation to get in and get it done; employees, OTOH, are always fighting to do less, and easily cost a company twice what they are paid in wages.

When I attended college from 72 to 75 I worked in a Resort Hotel in Lancaster Pa. as did many other college students from the area. I believe these jobs are probably gone because hiring an Illegal gains the industry a much lower turnover rate of its employees.

Think about it...if they can choose between some-one who will only stay for a year or two or some-one they think might stay a lifetime and hardly ever complain...guess who gets the job.